


How You're Raised

by soupypictures



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Lad and dad, larrie-free content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-01 11:22:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12704010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soupypictures/pseuds/soupypictures
Summary: It’s 2037 and a biopic about Louis Tomlinson is about to be released in theaters. It details his rise to stardom, his personal tragedies, and how he made a name for himself in the music industry by … well, it boils down to him just being genuinelygoodto people. With the spotlight on him from such a young age, how was he able to stay so grounded?An imagined fictional interview with Freddie Reign.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Standard disclaimer applies: I know no one involved, I don't pretend to know anyone, I don't pretend to be able to predict the future, and I know that everything I write is fictional, except the parts that are real (Freddie is Louis's son, etc.)

“He always valued his Donny lads,” Freddie Reign, who takes on the role of his father in the film, laughs. He’s affected the accent of his father perfectly, a feat for someone born and raised in southern California. “He stayed close with his friends from before the band, and valued their opinions over those of people who might want to yes-man him to death. Once people realized that he wasn’t going to be changed, they kind of just … let him be him.”

Complimented for his mastery of the elder Tomlinson’s Northern voice, Freddie smiles a bit mischievously, a look that is sure to send yesteryear’s One Direction fans back a couple of decades.

“I’ve heard it my whole life, haven’t I? And I’ve got some practice using it in more … improvisational situations, so having a script made it incredibly easy.”

Improvisational?

“Oh, he’ll kill me for this – or laugh and say, ‘that’s me lad!’ – but when I was in high school, I’d call in to the school every once in awhile and pretend to be him, saying I was sick and getting excused for the day. I’d take my surfboard and catch some waves instead.”

It seems unbelievable that his teachers wouldn’t catch on, but Freddie smiles again and delicately fixes the hair that falls across his face. “I’m sure some of them knew I wasn’t my dad, but they had a story, you know? They’d talked to Louis Tomlinson off One Direction. I don’t think there’s harm in giving people a good story.”

He says that the most difficult part of growing up as the son of one of One Direction (his four siblings and he account for one-third of the next generation) was having to share his father with everyone in the world. “Wherever we went, he was always getting stopped. And these were his fans, and he loved them – loves them – so he’d stop and chat and take pictures. It was normal, for me, but when I got to be about fifteen or so I guess that teenaged angst really kicked in and I just wanted him for myself, you know?” Freddie stops for a moment, quirks his mouth, and shakes his head. “No, that’s not it. Like, that makes it sound like he loved his fans more than me and I know that’s not true. He loved them too. We had lots of chats about his responsibilities, and part of that was taking time for the people who had afforded him the ability to live the life he got to lead.

“No, the most difficult part was – is – the, you know. Conspiracy theorists.” His demeanor changes, and Freddie, who’s been nothing but smiles and laughs to this point, turns sharper. “It’s not about me, you know. And by the time I came around it was like … it wouldn’t have mattered what Dad said. He’d said everything and they kind of just … kept going. But I’m extremely protective of my mom and and it was … obviously when I was a baby I didn’t know this stuff was out there but when I got older it found its way to me and –” he breaks off, shaking his head and taking a sip of water. “It’s shit. People can be shit.” He smiles wanly. “But we can’t forget the lovely people,” he recites, Donny accent fitting him like he was born for it.

The interview ends when Freddie gets a Facetime call from his youngest sister who’s just won a trophy at a footie match. “That’s the Tommo genes!” he exclaims to the room after the call ends. Tommo genes indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s 2037 and a biopic about Louis Tomlinson is about to be released in theaters. It details his rise to stardom, his personal tragedies, and how he made a name for himself in the music industry by … well, it boils down to him just being genuinely good to people. Not being a musician himself, how did Freddie pull off the performance elements of the film?
> 
> _An imagined fictional interview with Freddie Reign._

“Oh well, since I was literally a baby, he’d kept me supplied with instruments. Toys at first, of course, but then when I was big enough, real ones. Story goes, when he started learning how to play the guitar, I was learning with him.” He pauses to take a sip of the mug he’s brought to the interview. It was steaming at the start but from his grimace it’s clear that whatever is in it has cooled down. “I could have been a musician, yeah, I know my way around a guitar, but … and this sounds weird, but I don’t like _performing_.” Despite sitting in interviews all day, Freddie Reign seems like he’s giving brand new insight.

He waves off the inevitable comment, _but you’re an actor!_ and laughs. “But it’s different, see. When I’m acting, I’m taking on the role of another person. When Dad was out there performing with the band, and then doing his solo thing, that was him up there. I know he was putting on a show, yeah, but he didn’t have another name to hide behind.”

So what was it like taking on your father’s name for this role? Was it more difficult than your past work?

“It was so difficult. It’s like, when you take a role you’ve got to learn to inhabit that person, whoever it is. And you’d think it would be easier if it’s someone you know so well and on the, like, imitation front, yes. Definitely. I can walk like him, talk like him, put on the effort of singing like him, but it’s not just that. You’ve got to think like them, too. At least, that’s how I do it. Bit of a method actor, me. And imagine getting into the headspace of your actual parents, it’s … not easy. A bit uncomfortable, if I’m honest, especially when it came to the, you know. The conspiracy bits.”

Like the first time this came up, his visage goes stormy when he’s asked what made the scenes about the conspiracy theory especially difficult. “I’ve always hated it, since I knew about it, because of how it affected my mother. I never really thought about how it affected Dad, which sounds _mad_ now that I say it out loud but with him it was just something that existed, and for as long as he’d been in the public eye it’d been there. So I didn’t _see_ it affect him, he was always so stoic with me. In that way, not, like, generally. Anyway, I had to talk about it with him for the film, and so we had this sit-down and he said to me, ‘Freddie son, for the rest of this little interview here, I’m going to pretend you’re just an actor, and not my blood.’” Here, Freddie breaks off and shakes his head. “I can’t tell you what he said me, but I hope I was able to convey what he was feeling through my performance in the film. You’ll just have to go see it, won’t you?”

And Freddie Reign’s favorite scene to film?

“Is it weird if I say the scenes where I’m a baby? That’s totally weird. Nevermind, uh, I have to say, it was so much fun to film with Bear, we’ve been mates since we were born, practically, and to be able to find a place for him in the film was amazing.” Bear Payne, eldest offspring of Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole, did not portray his own father in the film, but instead one of Tomlinson’s “Donny lads” who saw him through from X-Factor to superstardom. “And he’s really, like, helped me in the same way the man he played helped my father.” He grins, and moves in an aborted sip of his drink. “Art imitates life, life imitates art. I dunno, something like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's just fun to think about the future sometimes.


End file.
